Fisichella, Vilander to lead Risi Daytona bid

Former F1 pilot Giancarlo Fisichella will continue to drive for Risi Competizione in America this season, having been confirmed alongside Toni Vilander for the 2016 IMSA campaign.

Risi Competizione has confirmed its driver line-up for the upcoming Rolex 24 At Daytona, with Giancarlo Fisichella and Toni Vilander leading an experienced squad into the twice-around-the-clock American endurance classic.

Davide Rigon and Olivier Beretta join Fisichella and Vilander at Daytona, as Risi prepares for a full season in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship series with Fisichella and Vilander as its 2016 regulars.

The Italian returns to Risi for 2016 after a full season of IMSA competition for the Giuseppe Risi-owned squad alongside Pierre Kaffer last season. The pair combined for five podium finishes in the GTLM class - at Sebring, Long Beach, Road America, VIR and COTA - as well as three additional top five appearances in the ten-race series.

Vilander most recently drove for Risi Competizione at last year's rain-shortened Petit Le Mans, where he joined Fisichella and Kaffer to take fifth in class in the team's Ferrari 458 Italia. He competed full-time in the global FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) with fellow Ferrari driver Gianmaria 'Gimmi' Bruni, finishing second in the GTE Pro class championship.

"Now that Ferrari has decided the driver line-up for its factory drivers, we are happy to welcome back Giancarlo and Toni to our stable for the full IMSA season," team principal Giuseppe Risi said, "Once again, we will add Davide Rigon and Olivier Beretta for the Rolex 24 race, as we did in 2015."

The team is currently awaiting the highly-anticipated Ferrari 488 twin-turbo, which is set to replace the Ferrari 458 Italia in the GT Le Mans class.

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"Although the new Ferrari 488 is not ready yet for delivery, we have sent a small crew and transporter to the Daytona test to go through the required steps to participate in the 24-hour race later this month," Risi added, "We await further details from Michelotto and Ferrari on the expected 488 delivery in the coming weeks."